The governments of the United States and the United Kingdom have signed a data sharing agreement that will make it possible for law enforcement agencies from each country to quickly access data from tech companies operating in one of two the countries. Under the accord, UK law enforcement can demand that US tech companies hand over user data in the context of criminal investigations, while US law enforcement will be able to obtain data from UK firms in the same way.

Previously, it could take up to two years for US law enforcement to obtain data from UK companies and vice versa. Under the new agreement, such requests for data could be obtained within a week. The deal falls under the controversial US CLOUD Act 2018 and the UK Crime (Overseas Production Orders) Act 2019.

Read more: US and UK Sign Crime Data Sharing Agreement